Bat House Forum

[cloudman75]

I checked twice tonight and my smaller house had 3 bats. The larger house had 4 bats. It has been near freezing at night for two nights. This is about the average time of the year that my little browns leave for hibernation. It looks like quiet time until March. The bat houses, I have three, look in good condition so I don't plan anymaintenance work this year. There were about 20 bats with the little browns that are smaller than little browns last week. I cannot identify them but they look very much the same color as little browns. The new 3 chamber house I installed in September had no bats using it to date. All three houses are within 30 ft of each other mounted on metal poles at about 20 ft.

[websaver]

Hi

You would probly get a bigger occupancy if you position your bat house on a solid external wall to provide extra warmth, also make sure it is near water so the bats dont have to go far to drink.

Dave

[cloudman75]

Thanks for reply Dave.
I had over a hundre little brown bats leave here in Georgia in Nov. A few hung around until late Nov when the freezing temps finally sent them into hibernation or where they go in winter. Our weather is so hot here in summer that I use a lighter color on the houses and several ventilation holes in my bat houses. The third one I put up has no ventilation holes and is still unused starting the second season now. My little browns are coming back now as I counted 73 tonight on exit.
I never get as many back as leave out. This is a maternity colony so most of the males do not return I suppose.
Good luck, cheers, and welcome.

[websaver]

I find bats fascinating, however I have to rely solely on tv and internet to acquire knowledge because we just dont have bats where I live in the UK. The area I live in is very urban and the nearest river or lake is miles away, so I dont bother even thinking about bat houses
So if you live in the ideal location then you have a good chance, Oh how I envy you

[Dave Miller]

I find bats fascinating, however I have to rely solely on tv and internet to acquire knowledge because we just dont have bats where I live in the UK. The area I live in is very urban and the nearest river or lake is miles away, so I dont bother even thinking about bat houses
So if you live in the ideal location then you have a good chance, Oh how I envy you

I believe the UK is way ahead of North America in terms of understanding and protecting bats. I would guess that even though you live in a city, you can participate in bat conservation activities that are not too far away. E.g. volunteer for some conservation organization. This might be a good place to start: http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/get_involved.html

[cloudman75]

Webbsaver, I checked out the link to your blog. I have built two bat houses, plus I bought one. I am fortunate to be in an excellent location for bats having woods, own 5 1/2 acres and have several lakes within one half mile. I do appreciate
being so fortunate. I am also in a warm climate compared to the UK, and have a longer season to observe bats . I never stain the inside of my bat houses. I have one with screening, the other two I roughed the plywood baffles. My pride and joy is a five chamber bat house which is very heavy but the bats seem to prefer it now that there is a 100 or more in my maternity colony. My latest plans are to build a very large two chamber mounted up around twenty ft high. I am in the planning stage at present. Was that your photo on the site I viewed about how to build a bat house?
I have been to the UK three times, traveled on two guided tours plus rented an auto and drove down to the coast and caught a ferry to Ireland. I have also been to Wales and Scotland. I do not share Dave Miller's opinion that the UK
provides more for bats or understands more about bats than we do in the US. That's what makes this country so great we can all have and share our opinions. I spent a week at a B&B farmhouse near Nantwich several years ago. I did not see any bat houses there or observe any bats. I also went down to my ancestoral home at Devizes, did not see any there. I counted 84 little browns on exit last night here. They are a little early getting back this year.
Happy batting to you, and good to hear what's going on in the UK.

Frank